New Yorkers shopped ’til they dropped more than folks anywhere else in the country did this holiday season, a new report shows.

Big Apple retailers took in 7.2 percent more than they did last year, according to the report that measures sales paid by check. While check spending accounts for only one-third of all retail sales, it’s considered an indicator of the overall take.

Mayor Giuliani seized on the report as more proof that the city’s in better shape than ever — and cited the tourism and jobs boom during his tenure.

“I think this is just one more indication and one that we’re very proud of that New York City is going into the new millennium about as strong and about as vibrant as it has been in this century,” Giuliani said.

Michael Carey, who heads the city’s Economic Development Corp., said the survey shows the mayor’s “efforts turning New York around … is a success.”

The report was released Monday by TeleCheck Services, a Texas-based firm that authorizes checks at 210,000 retailers nationwide. The survey sampled 27,000 stores, tallying sales from the day after Thanksgiving to the day after Christmas.

The Big Apple beat the nationwide average gain of 6.2 percent, the report said. The runners-up to New York were Oklahoma City at 6.9 percent, Washington at 6.8 percent and Boston at 6.5 percent.

The average check written at New York shops was for $170.39 during the 1998 holidays — and soared to $205.50 this season, said William Ford, TeleCheck’s senior economic adviser. That’s way above the national average, which was $95.47 last year, and $97.28 this year.

“There’s no place in America where people wrote as big a check as in New York City,” Ford said.

The U.S. Commerce Department issues its annual holiday sales report, which includes catalogue and Internet sales, next month.